Will Debbie have an action in negligence against Matt OR the Nightclub owner?
Debbie surely has action in negligence against Matt or the Nightclub owner. As a matter of fact, according to Gibson and Fraser (2009) in chapter seven notes negligence in law is understood to be the failure to heed precaution towards others which prudent individual would perform in the circumstances. Nonetheless, it can be understood to be not using reasonable care. In respect to this, it is imperative to acknowledge that Debbie has action in negligence against Matt or the Nightclub owner since they all exercised some degree of failure in taking precautions towards Debbie.
Therefore, for Debbie to be able to prove negligence against these parties, she needs to go through several steps to convince the legal fraternity of her claims against other parties. In these steps, Debbie has to analyze what comprises negligence and how the other two parties; Matt and Nightclub owner broke the law.
For that matter, Debbie has to prove that the two parties had the knowledge, perception, and experience to prove that someone who would have acted reasonably would not have acted in the same manner as the other two parties did. Nonetheless, Gibson and Fraser (2009) in chapter seven-note that the complainant (Debbie) must prove without reasonable doubt that they conducted themselves in light of their observation and actual knowledge since a reasonable individual normally puts this into account.
In addition, Gibson & Fraser, 2009 in their chapter seven gives another step of proving eligibility of negligence by the complainant which concerns special skill. To be able to prove negligence in this case, the complainant will have to prove that Matt engaged in an activity that required special skills, that is driving. Therefore, such an individual is required to discharge these special skills to the highest standards to safeguard the public.
Furthermore, for the complainant to have a case of negligence, she needs to prove that the mental capacities of other parties are not the leeway for acting unreasonably. The complaint will have to prove that the two parties are liable for negligence despite their state of mind since their lack of intelligence, memory judgment or emotional stability do not permit the parties to act unreasonably (Gibson & Fraser, 2009).
On the other hand, the claimant will also be netted in the negligence case as she also failed to consider others’ conduct. According to the law of negligence, the complainant will need to prove that she failed to take into account others’ conduct and in so doing failed to regulate her conduct accordingly. About this, an individual is tasked to foresee any negligent conduct that may arise when circumstance warrants (Gibson & Fraser, 2009).
Reflection on the experience while answering the Question
In answering the question, several experiences were observed. For instance, it became paramount that for the question to be well answered, good knowledge and meaning of negligence in the legal context were important. Moreover, it became relatively important to know the extent to which an action can be considered as a matter of negligence that warrants redress in a court of law. Therefore, it was extremely important to understand several proofs that an individual must base on to make an act admissible as negligence in a court of law.
What did you find difficult? How did you overcome the challenges?
Nonetheless, in answering the question, several difficulties were encountered. For instance, it become difficult to appreciate that the complainant deserved redress in a court of law in a matter about negligence since she too was part of the actions that resulted in the accident. However, I overcame the challenge when I learned that she too is covered by the negligence law since she can be compensated for the damages she underwent minus the actual contribution she played in the action.
Conclusion
To sum up, it can be concluded that negligence law is there to safeguard the people against acts that might occur due to both intentional and unintentional errors. Therefore, it helps guide individuals to be careful and considerate to ensure that their acts do not harm or affect themselves or other parties negatively which helps to uphold sanity.
References
Gibson, A. & Fraser, D. (2009) Business Law. 4th ed. England: Monash University Press.